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Huawei has reportedly patented an in-house controller for virtual reality (VR) applications such as gaming. It is depicted as having a fairly standard form-factor, and possibly as coming in blue or black, in its new CNIPA documentation. Therefore, the OEM might be about to unveil products for this market.

The Chia mining craze is in full effect and SSD / HDD shortages could be right around the corner. TeamGroup is now jumping to the rescue by providing the first NVMe SSDs specifically designed to mine Chia. The new T-Create Expert PCIe SSD models come with greatly improved durability and an impressive 12-year warranty.

Leaked technical specifications of an Alder Lake-S Core-1800 16-core 24-thread engineering sample (ES) indicate a TDP of 125 W and a PL2 of 228 W that lasts for just 2.44 ms. We also get to know that this Core-1800 ES sample can boost up to 4.6 GHz on two Golden Cove cores and up to 3.4 GHz on four Gracemont Atom cores at 1.3147 V.

AMD’s top-end Zen 3 Cezanne desktop APU, the Ryzen 7 5700G, has been discovered being put through its paces in a couple of synthetic benchmarks. The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G delivered the expected improvements over the Ryzen 7 4700G in terms of CPU performance and even the uninspiring integrated Radeon Vega 8 5000 iGPU offered a very positive outcome.

The Acer Nitro XV252QF is a 24.5-inch gaming monitor with an exceptionally high refresh rate. According to Acer, the Nitro XV252QF can reach 390 Hz, dwarfing the refresh rates of most gaming monitors.

Intel's upcoming Atlas Canyon NUC will reportedly use 10 Watt Jasper Lake CPUs. Atlas Canyon will also mark the first low-powered NUCs that will use only PCIe NVMe drives rather than slower 2.5 SATA drives. Unfortunately, the NUCs may be delayed until early 2022 because of the global chip shortage.

NVIDIA recently unveiled its 2021-2025 roadmap for the datacenter segment. The roadmap indicates that an Ampere successor, likely Lovelace, could arrive next year, with a new GPU architecture beyond that set to arrive before 2024.

University of Virginia cybersecurity researchers published a paper in which they claimed that a variant of the Spectre vulnerability could potentially impact "billions" of devices, and require patches that severely hinder performance. Intel, however, refuted the claim in a statement.

The tentative Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti launch date has been pushed back once again. Nvidia is expected to unveil both SKUs on May 31. The RTX 3080 Ti is likely to remain under embargo until June 2, and the RTX 3070 Ti until June 9. There is no word about when either model will go on sale, though.

ROCCAT has announced the Magma and Pyro as its latest gaming keyboard. They both feature their brand's AIMO lighting system, which shines uniquely through the Magma's semi-transparent top plate. That new unit has membrane keys, whereas the Pyro has mechanical switches and an aluminium top plate.

Modders have managed to tweak the Resident Evil Village demo on PC to run well past its nominal 1-hour time limit. While the demo doesn't feature all areas in the game, this gives gamers the opportunity to explore the game's Romanian environs at a more sedate pace.

Intel had recently outlined plans to establish new plants in Europe, possibly in a bid to address the prevailing chipset-supply crisis. However, a new report suggest that the OEM expects something in return for the potential economic boost for the regions in question: namely, that European governments contribute up to €8 billion (US$9.7 billion) to the project in question.

Apple has now officially made its new 2021 24-inch iMac computers with M1 Apple Silicon available to order. There are plenty of configurations for shoppers to choose from, with prices ranging from US$1,299 for the entry-level iMac to US$3,127.98 for the model with all the hardware and software it can handle.

Cyberpunk 2077's notoriously troubled launch has apparently not had an impact on the major bonuses cleared by CD Projekt Red's senior executives this year. CDPR heads received over $US28 million, thanks in large part to Cyberpunk's hype-driven sales success.

Worries worsen that Chia, a storage-based cryptocurrency, could trigger a future shortage of SSDs and HDDs, as ADATA registered a massive 500 percent spike in sales in April, alongside a 6x increase in Chia's storage capacity.

The TL50 mini PC is now available for pre-order on the Makuake crowdfunding platform from Japan at around $650, and it integrates an Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU with Iris Xe integrated graphics, 12 GB LPDDR4-3200 soldered RAM and 512 GB NVMe SSD. It also features a Thunderbolt 4 connector and supports 4x PCIe 4.0 lanes for the NVMe drives.

Rumour has it that Huawei plans to release two MateView monitors soon; one aimed at gamers and the other at professionals. The latter has already leaked, while the former is reportedly a 42-inch monitor with a 21:9 aspect ratio and a 165 Hz refresh rate.

A South Korean Tech forum post claims that Intel's 12th-generation Alder Lake processors are 40% slower than initially anticipated. It also says that Intel's Xe DG2 HPG graphics cards will come with at least 6GB of VRAM and cost less than Nvidia and AMD alternatives.

Respawn has announced that it is bringing a new permanent gaming mode to Apex Legends with its new ‘Legacy’ update. The ‘Arena’ gaming mode brings a more Titanfall-like battle experience that is faster and with just two teams going head-to-head in a 3v3 shootout over several rounds.

AMD expects an overall improvement for the Radeon RX 6000 supply going forward, as the company expects to gradually ramp up production throughout 2021. These plans were revealed by CEO Lisa Su herself during the latest earning call. Su also reported that the Q1 2021 revenues from consumer graphics saw double digit growth, despite all the supply constraints raised by crypto miners, scalpers and chip shortages.

The new iPad Pros and iMac will be pre-orderable from tomorrow, but Apple has hinted that it will not have many units available. Apple expects shortages to continue into Q3 2021, although primarily for iPad and Macs.

Trust has announced that its latest Taxon webcam has a QHD (2560x1440) sensor. It also features auto-focus for its high-res lens, as well as dual mics and a USB plug-and-play nature. It has been released to Amazon in the UK for £69.99 (~US$97), or £48.99 (~$68) for a limited time.

The M1 Apple Silicon has now claimed the top spot in PassMark’s CPU Mark single-thread performance charts for both desktop and laptop CPUs, thanks to the hybrid processor turning up in devices such as the MacBook Pro 13 laptop and Mac Mini desktop. The Apple M1 managed to outscore powerful rivals such as the Intel Core i9-11900K, i9-11900F, AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS, and Ryzen 9 5900HS.

The Lite Hash Rate limiters along with support for Resizable BAR will be included with revisions for the RTX 3060 / Ti, 3070 and 3080, plus the soon to be released 3070 Ti and 3080 Ti models. Sources claim that the RTX 3090 might not get the anti-mining measures, but there should be an updated version that at least features ReBAR.

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) had indicated that its flagship Consumer Electronics Show (CES) might be able to return to a live format in 2022. Now, the group has confirmed that this is indeed the case. Therefore, the conference will be held in its classic Las Vegas setting through January 5 to 8 of next year.

Instruments of Destruction by Red Faction: Guerilla lead tech artist Luke Schneider's studio could fill the decade-long void left after Red Faction: Guerilla demonstrated its remarkable destruction tech in 2009.

The new Sky Z7 R2 from Eurocom is among the first laptops to feature PCIe 4.0 support thanks to the inclusion of a desktop-grade Intel Z590 motherboard. This allows one of the NVMe SSD slots and the GPU to benefit from increased bandwidth. Specs for the Sky Z7 R2 include an i9-11900K CPU, up to 128 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, up to 26 TB SSD storage, max TGP+boost mobile RTX 3000 GPUs, HFD 300 Hz or 4K 60 Hz 17.3-inch displays and 2x Thunderbolt 4 connectors.

The mouse is about 8 gram lighter than the original Orochi V1 to be one of Razer's lightest to date. Its new design is simpler, sleeker and more travel-friendly than before as well.

The Zen AiO 24 A5401 is a compact all-in-one computer that packs plenty of power under the hood. The 23.8-inch computer is now available with AMD's Ryzen 7 5700U, an octa-core APU that ASUS has complemented with 16 GB of SO-DIMM RAM and a 512 GB PCIe SSD.

Razer's latest wireless mouse has a renewed design that is, as the OEM claims, ideal for various grip or handling types used for gaming. It also features its brand's second-gen mechanical switches, as well as its 5G optical sensor. However, the Orochi V2's most eye-catching spec is probably its ultra-long battery life, even if Razer has settled on a slightly unexpected way to deliver it.

According to a new report, NVIDIA is expected to unveil the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti over a week before its May 26 release. The GA102-based card will supposedly launch for US$999, which would, theoretically, make it a much cheaper option than the GeForce RTX 3090.

The AMD 4700S desktop processor has made another appearance online, this time as part of a Mini-ITX based gaming system. It is believed that the chips that were not up to scratch for the Xbox Series X and S consoles were repurposed as AMD 4700S APUs. This means Zen 2 architecture, GDDR6 memory support, and even higher clock rates…but no iGPU.

The Pro Air is the first wireless mouse of ROCCAT's Kone line. It combines this series' Bionic Shell design and Titan optical switches with cable-free use, thanks to a battery that can fast-charge via USB type C. For those that prefer to stick with wires, however, it has a new Pro sibling with PhantomFlex technology and otherwise identical gaming-focused specs.

A Chinese OEM has launched a somewhat unconventional motherboard for Chia miners. The Onda B365 D32-D4 Magic Edition is a regular B365 board with 32 SATA ports for enterprise-grade hard drives and six dedicated 6-pin connectors to power them.

Programmer 8-bit Show And Tell managed to mod his 1 MHz Commodore 64 to mine Bitcoin. This is a remarkable feat for hardware that's close to 40 years old. However, at 0.3 H/s, the system will take nearly a billion years, just to turn a profit of US$10.

The ViewSonic ColorPro Professional Monitor is a display with its own in-built click-wheel control that doubles as a calibration sensor. This feature, along with others such as a "minimalist" build, easy-attach shade hood and inbuilt ambient light, has won it an iF Design Award for 2021.

Overall, the Radeon Pro W6900X is somewhere between an RX 6800 XT and an RX 6900 XT. Since it is noticeably faster than the RX 6900 XT in the Metal API tests, the professional card could be getting 32 GB of VRAM. The clocks will most likely be lower though, so it might only feature a more compact blower style cooler.

Yet more details about the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3080 Ti have appeared online. Their revised launch dates have been published this time, although they have slipped to early June and late May, respectively. Apparently, the RTX 3080 Ti will go on sale on May 26, with reviews going live a day before.

An RX 6900 XTX prototype has leaked, in what would have been AMD's most powerful RDNA 2-based reference card. The RX 6900 XTX has a built-in AIO cooler and a slick design, albeit one that no gamer will ever be able to purchase.

Intel has announced its first financial report for 2021, which is for the first quarter of this year (1Q2021) that has just ended in March. It shows that the chip giant's net income is US$3.4 billion - 41% less compared to that of 1Q2020. Its earnings are also down by 1% year-on-year (YoY), even though its computing business is up by 8%.

The horror blockbuster is now free to download and keep forever. Alien Isolation is seven years old, but it still looks great in 2021. The game is playable on underpowered GPUs like the Intel UHD Graphics 620, too.

The GeForce RTX 3080 Ti's specifications and ETH mining performance have leaked, just a day after a report detailed the card's price and anti-mining measures yesterday. Apparently, NVIDIA has chosen the GA102-225 GPU, which can achieve up to 118.9 MH/s under the right conditions.

cannot really stop scalpers, especially if the initial RTX 3080 Ti stocks will be limited and remain so for some time due to the global chip shortages, but it can at least implement better anti-mining measures. The new cards are supposed to integrate GA102-202 / GA102-302 chips recognized only by new drivers that automatically half the hashing rate.

The all-new Apple iMac has launched in multiple colors as had been expected. However, instead of being an all-screen device as some had predicted, it includes the trademark iMac ‘chin’ of old. Now, an Apple engineer has revealed the innards of the new iMac showing that this part of the design hides the M1 processor and logic board.

The impending spectre of a Discord that had merged with Microsoft is now off the table, as the chat-service company has now reportedly lost interest in striking such a deal with the Redmond giant. According to the latest rumors, it has now re-visited the prospect of an initial public offering (IPO) instead.

Game developers can now add image quality and graphics performance enhancing features like Contrast Adaptive Sharpening (CAS), Variable Shading, and ray-traced shadow Denoising for the Xbox Series X/S. AMD's plan to transform the entire FidelityFX suite into a cross-platform standard seems to be working well, although there is no word yet for any PS5 support.

Apple has launched a redesigned iMac featuring its M1 Silicon and a range of bright colors. The 24-inch iMac joins the MacBook Pro 13, MacBook Air, and Mac Mini to officially become an M1 Mac. Prices start at US$1,299 for the 2021 redesigned iMac, which features a much slimmer profile, improved sound system, Thunderbolt connectivity, and Magic Keyboard with Touch ID.